HPC meeting summary 06222022 Corrected

Browse Search

2 proposed district, as developed by the SHPO staff after we carried out our initial county- wide architectural inventory in 1992. Members discussed those boundaries and the inclusion of the sites visited during our field trip, including extending the district to include the historic roadbed and mill site. It may be possible to extend the boundary to the north along Mebane-Oaks Road depending on the integrity of the historic resources there. It may be necessary to adjust the eastern boundary to pull out the Pluck Farm land given the level of new construction there. Staff noted that the great range of resources, from the archaeological sites to the road to the various standing structures that date from the late 18th century up to the 1922 church. As of this time, we don’t have a good understanding of the presence of any resources with ties to the African American community—this is something the folks in Oaks are reviewing now. Moore discussed her research on the Mary’s Grove Church and the Black community that lived and worked around that church, but that is a bit farther north in Alamance County. Outstanding questions include: what is the real level of community support for this project, and what will the current SHPO staff think about this as a proposed project? Discussion followed about next steps, including getting pricing from consultants, getting SHPO staff to visit, and having further discussions about how this will be funding. The future of the Bethlehem Presbyterian Church is also an issue too—staff needs to follow up with church members to see what has happened. b. Ideas for Identifying and preserving slave cemeteries: Staff provided a PowerPoint presentation to give members an overview of the ongoing question of how to preserve and protect these fragile historic resources. The county learned a great deal from our work on the project to preserve the Strayhorn Slave Cemetery out at Blackwood Farm Park, where we conducted archaeology to map out all the burials. The mapping revealed clear family groupings and showed numerous youth burials as well as adults. Other cemeteries were discussed, including the Stadler’s Slave cemetery up on 86 north, the Johnston Slave Cemetery, the Harvey Clark cemetery at the Durham Tech property, the one at the original site of Harvey’s Chapel on Crabtree Creek, and another up in the northeast corner of the county. Looking ahead, there seems to be a responsibility for the HPC to take steps to help identify and protect these endangered sites and to develop a process for protection, for example, permanent markers, fences and interpretive signs. Only a small percentage of these resources have been mapped. In many cases, these are burial grounds for both slaves and then free blacks, often with burials continuing well into the 20th century. This can be an asset to current efforts by Black descendants seeking to locate their ancestors. Some BOCC members are very interested in this topic. This will be an ongoing discussion. c. Summer Meeting Schedule: Staff noted that most years, the HPC agrees to take one month off each summer. Members discussed options and agreed to cancel the July meeting. Our next meeting will be August 24th. d. Membership: Staff has been discussing HPC membership with several qualified candidates and has some positive leads. With luck, we will be able to enlist a new member this fall to replace Susan Ballard. ITEM #6: UPDATES AND INFORMATION ITEMS a. Book Project: Author Laura Phillips is now working on editing her initial drafts of the architectural and historical essays, after Catherine Bishir looked at them and directed her to create better introductory paragraphs. Then she will go back over all the entries and edit those as her final phase of work. b. Annual Report and Work Plan feedback from the BOCC: Menius and staff attended the work session and received positive feedback on the book project and the cemetery